Willemse gives Stormers late boost in scrappy win over Munster

19 October 2024 - 22:03
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Damian Willemse scored 14 points for the Stormers in their 34-19 win over Munster in the URC in Cape Town on Saturday.
Damian Willemse scored 14 points for the Stormers in their 34-19 win over Munster in the URC in Cape Town on Saturday.
Image: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

Damian Willemse’s drop goal and then an intercept try from centre Ruan Nel settled what had turned into a tricky final 10 minutes for the Stormers, who claimed just their second win in this season’s United Rugby Championships and their first ever over Munster. 

Willemse, battling with an injury to his right shoulder, refused to leave the field despite advice from the medical staff. He produced a delightful step to wrong-foot the Munster defence and having got his side going forward, then slotted a 25m drop goal to ease the tension that had built up among a healthy crowd which gathered at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

Nel put smiles on their faces, intercepting Jack Crowley’s pass to skirt home under the posts for a bonus point try that will boost the Stormer’s confidence after a difficult road-trip to Europe in which they lost heavily to Edinburgh and the Ospreys.

The 15-point margin doesn’t reflect how hard the Stormer made this for themselves. Until Willemse’s late moments of quality, they’d produced a patchy display in which their handling was at times dreadful while the line-outs were often messy. 

While there was plenty of intensity, the first half lacked the quality that both sides are capable of producing. It certainly wasn’t like the final they played two seasons ago, but that was to be expected, given it's still early days in this season’s tournament.

Nevertheless, the Stormers' sluggish start was still concerning. Munster found their rhythm early, regularly punching holes in the Stormers' defence, although like their opponents they too experienced problems with their line-out.

The other parts of their game functioned better, particularly the linking between backs and forwards. In fact they should have been the first to score, but having breached the home side’s defence, once they reached the scoring zone they panicked. Flyhalf Crowley threw a blind pass behind his back, which was perfectly read by Stormers wing Suleiman Hartzenberg, who poached possession and sprinted 80m to score under the posts.

As irritating as that concession was for the 2023 winners of this tournament, they quickly got back into their patterns of play, reasserting their authority and scoring two tries. The first of those the result of a charge-down of a lackadaisical clearance by Willemse, with the ball eventually finding its way to centre Tom Farrell, who scored.

Ten minutes later, Munster were able to combine two bits of set-piece ascendancy: first earning a penalty from a scrum in which they marched Stormers back 10m and then clean line-out ball from which replacement hooker Eoghan Clarke, on while starter Niall Scannell was being assessed for concussion, was mauled over the try line.   

The Stormers opened the second half with a beautifully executed back-line move, featuring slick handling from Warrick Gelant and Hartzenberg, to send Nel diving over. It was a moment of quality that stood in contrast to the scrappy opening 40 produced by the hosts.

They should have made better use of the momentum created at the start of the second half, but sloppy handling and a failure to protect possession allowed Munster to stay in touch as the match entered its final stage.

The Irish team’s resilience was rewarded when replacement loose forward Gavin Coombes burst over the try line to reduce the Stormers’ lead to two points. Neither team could gain any ascendancy, with plenty errors being made on both sides.

Fortunately for the Stormers, they had Willemse in their ranks. He was able to find the magic that eventually put this game to bed — giving director of rugby John Dobson reason to smile and hopefully kick-starting their season.

Scorers

Stormers 34 (14): Tries — Suleiman Hartzenberg, Marcel Theunissen, Ruan Nel (2). Conversions — Damian Willemse (4). Penalty — Willemse. Drop Goal — Willemse

Munster 19 (12): Tries — Tom Farrell, Eoghan Clarke, Gavin Coombes. Conversions — Jack Crowley (2)


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